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Topic Review
Cardiovascular Risk Stratification and Cancer
Cancer patients receiving a potentially cardiotoxic oncologic therapy have an increased risk of cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs), especially in presence of concomitant arterial hypertension (AH). Therefore, cancer patients should be evaluated before, during and after cardiotoxic treatments, to early identify new-onset or worsening AH or CVAEs. An expert panel of oncology networks from Piedmont and Aosta Valley (North-Western Italy) aimed to provide recommendations to support health professionals in selecting the best management strategies for patients, considering the impact on outcome and the risk–benefit ratio of diagnostic/therapeutic tools.
  • 1.4K
  • 28 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Photon-Counting Computed Tomography
Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) is a new advanced imaging technique that is going to transform the standard clinical use of computed tomography (CT) imaging. Photon-counting detectors resolve the number of photons and the incident X-ray energy spectrum into multiple energy bins. Compared with conventional CT technology, PCCT offers the advantages of improved spatial and contrast resolution, reduction of image noise and artifacts, reduced radiation exposure, and multi-energy/multi-parametric imaging based on the atomic properties of tissues, with the consequent possibility to use different contrast agents and improve quantitative imaging.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Feb 2023
Topic Review
PUFA and Heart Failure
Heart failure (HF) characterized by cardiac remodeling is a condition in which inflammation and fibrosis play a key role. Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) seems to produce good results. In fact, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and different cardioprotective mechanisms. 
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Consanguinity and Congenital Heart Disease Susceptibility
Congenital heart disease (CHD) encompasses a wide range of structural defects of the heart and, in many cases, the factors that predispose an individual to disease are not well understood, highlighting the remarkable complexity of CHD etiology. Evidence of familial aggregation of CHD has been demonstrated in different communities and for different cardiac lesions. Consanguinity, particularly among first cousins, is an added risk factor for these families, particularly in societies where it is considered a common cultural practice, as confirmed in previous studies conducted in Saudi Arabia and other countries.
  • 1.4K
  • 24 Feb 2022
Topic Review
NAFLD and Cardiovascular Diseases
Overwhelming evidence suggests an association of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely speculative.
  • 1.4K
  • 09 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Physical Activity for the Elderly Cardiovascular Diseases Prevention
Cardiovascular disease prevention in the general population, and especially in older adults, starts from lifestyle modification. To prevent cardiovascular disease not just in elderly patients, but in all age groups, it is recommended to avoid a sedentary lifestyle and to exercise within the limits of individual tolerance. It is common knowledge that physical exercise has a positive impact on improving health and quality of life. In the elderly, regular exercise can exert an important contribution in reducing falls, maintaining good physical function and maintaining a good quality of life.
  • 1.4K
  • 30 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Hyperalphalipoproteinemia and HDL
Hyperalphalipoproteinemia (HALP) is a lipid disorder characterized by elevated plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels above the 90th percentile of the distribution of HDL-C values in the general population. Secondary non-genetic factors such as drugs, pregnancy, alcohol intake, and liver diseases might induce HDL increases. Primary forms of HALP are caused by mutations in the genes coding for cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), hepatic lipase (HL), apolipoprotein C-III (apo C-III), scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI) and endothelial lipase (EL).
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Macrophages in Atherosclerosis Development
Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial chronic disease that has a prominent inflammatory component. Currently, atherosclerosis is regarded as an active autoimmune process that involves both innate and adaptive immune pathways. One of the drivers of this process is the presence of modified low-density lipoprotein (LDL). For instance, lipoprotein oxidation leads to the formation of oxidation-specific epitopes (OSE) that can be recognized by the immune cells. Macrophage response to OSEs is recognized as a key trigger for initiation and a stimulator of progression of the inflammatory process in the arteries. At the same time, the role of oxidized LDL components is not limited to pro-inflammatory stimulation, but includes immunoregulatory effects that can have protective functions. 
  • 1.4K
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Dapagliflozin as a Drug in Heart Failure
Dapagliflozin is a selective SGLT-2 inhibitor that reduces renal glucose absorption by inhibiting the SGLT-2 receptors present in the S1 region of the proximal kidney tubules.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Myocardial Injury Related to SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia
The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is expected to worsen, and mortality will be higher when combined with myocardial injury (MI). The combination of novel coronavirus infections in patients with MI can cause confusion in diagnosis and assessment, with each condition exacerbating the other, and increasing the complexity and difficulty of treatment.
  • 1.4K
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Salvia miltiorrhiza
Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, also known as red sage, is a valued herbal plant in the traditional medicine in Korea, China and Japan. It is called as Dansam in Korea, Danshen in China. It is well known for its highly medicinal properties in treating of heart and vascular diseases, chronic renal failure, Alzheimer’s disease, hepatitis and so forth. Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. 
  • 1.4K
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Individualized Risk Assessment in Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease is a major global cause of death, with an estimated 17.9 million cardiovascular disease-related deaths in 2019, representing nearly one third of global deaths. Atherosclerosis, which can begin in childhood, is a multifactorial, chronic condition that contributes to cardiovascular disease. Characterized by lipid deposition in the blood vessel intima, atherosclerosis is associated with inflammation and calcification and can cause vessel stenosis with thrombotic occlusion and/or embolism. A more precise and sophisticated tool that can reliably predict the thrombosis and bleeding risks at an individual level is required in order for clinicians to confidently recommend early interventions with a favorable risk–benefit profile. Critical to the development of this tool is the assessment and understanding of Virchow’s triad and its complex interactions between hypercoagulability, endothelial dysfunction and vessel flow, a fundamental concept to the development of thrombosis. 
  • 1.4K
  • 19 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Extracellular Vesicles in Atherothrombosis
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), small lipid-bilayer membrane vesicles released by most cellular types, exert pivotal and multifaceted roles in physiology and disease. Emerging evidence emphasizes the importance of EVs in intercellular communication processes with key effects on cell survival, endothelial homeostasis, inflammation, neoangiogenesis, and thrombosis. The following content focuses on EVs as effective signaling molecules able to both derail vascular homeostasis and induce vascular dysfunction, inflammation, plaque progression, and thrombus formation as well as drive anti-inflammation, vascular repair, and atheroprotection.
  • 1.4K
  • 24 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Cardiac Tissue Engineering Systems
Cardiac tissue engineering is very much in a current focus of regenerative medicine research as it represents a promising strategy for cardiac disease modelling, cardiotoxicity testing and cardiovascular repair. Advances in this field over the last two decades have enabled the generation of human engineered cardiac tissue constructs with progressively increased functional capabilities. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the therapeutic benefits exerted by cells are mainly attributable to the release of complementary paracrine factors and the efficacy is limited as only a small percentage of transplanted cells engrafted in the infarcted tissue. Studies on animal models showed that combining cell therapy with tissue engineering techniques for the creation of cell sheets and patches, can increase stem cell survival and boost therapeutic action. Therefore, tissue engineering has been considered as a potential approach for cardiac regeneration after MI. 
  • 1.4K
  • 30 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Statin Treatment in the Elderly
Ample evidence supports the use of statin therapy for secondary prevention in patients with a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), but evidence is wanting in the case of primary prevention, low-risk individuals, and elderly adults 65+. The efficacy of statins can be contrasted for distinct subsets of patients based on age, diabetes, ASCVD, and coronary artery calcium (CAC) status. Most cardiovascular risk calculators heavily weight age and overestimate one’s absolute risk of ASCVD, particularly in very old adults. Improvements in risk assessment will enable the identification of specific patient populations that benefit most from statin treatment. Derisking is particularly important for adults over 75, in whom treatment benefits are reduced and adverse musculoskeletal effects are amplified. The CAC score stratifies the benefit effect size obtainable with statins, and CAC > 100 can be regarded as a significant patient benefit group. Robust biomarkers, improved risk estimator tools, and personalized, evidence-based approaches are needed to optimally reduce cardiovascular events and mortality rates through administration of cholesterol-lowering medications.
  • 1.4K
  • 26 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Hypoxia-Inducible Transcription Factors in Signaling during Myocardial Ischemia
Despite increasing availability and more successful interventional approaches to restore coronary reperfusion, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury is a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. During myocardial ischemia, the myocardium becomes profoundly hypoxic, thus causing stabilization of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIF). Stabilization of HIF leads to a transcriptional program that promotes adaptation to hypoxia and cellular survival. Transcriptional consequences of HIF stabilization include increases in extracellular production and signaling effects of adenosine. Extracellular adenosine functions as a signaling molecule via the activation of adenosine receptors. Several studies implicated adenosine signaling in cardioprotection, particularly through the activation of the Adora2a and Adora2b receptors. Adenosine receptor activation can lead to metabolic adaptation to enhance ischemia tolerance or dampen myocardial reperfusion injury via signaling events on immune cells. Many studies highlight that clinical strategies to target the hypoxia-adenosine link could be considered for clinical trials. This could be achieved by using pharmacologic HIF activators or by directly enhancing extracellular adenosine production or signaling as a therapy for patients with acute myocardial infarction, or undergoing cardiac surgery. 
  • 1.4K
  • 24 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Role of Iron Deficiency in Heart Failure
The association of chronic heart failure (CHF) and iron deficiency (ID) with or without anemia is frequently encountered in current medical practice and has a negative prognostic impact, worsening patients’ exercise capacity and increasing hospitalization costs. Moreover, anemia is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and CHF, an association known as cardio-renal anemia syndrome (CRAS) possessing a significantly increased risk of death.
  • 1.4K
  • 17 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Evinacumab, an ANGPTL3 Inhibitor, in the Treatment of Dyslipidemia
Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) affects an average of 1 in 300,000 subjects. It is a very rare genetic disorder of lipoprotein metabolism. It is caused by mutations in both alleles of the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene and less often by mutations in APOB, the ligand for LDLR and proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9), a protein that degrades LDLR.
  • 1.4K
  • 05 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Hydrogen Sulfide in Cardiovascular Disease
The cardiovascular system can be programmed by a diversity of early-life insults, leading to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood. This notion is now termed developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). Emerging evidence indicates hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a crucial regulator of cardiovascular homeostasis, plays a pathogenetic role in CVD of developmental origins. Conversely, early H2S-based interventions have proved beneficial in preventing adult-onset CVD in animal studies via reversing programming processes by so-called reprogramming.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Phosphate in Vascular Calcification
Inorganic phosphate is essential for a variety of cellular processes, such as energy metabolism, bone formation, and synthesis of biomolecules, including phospholipids and nucleic acids. However, elevated serum phosphorus has emerged as a key risk factor for vascular calcification.
  • 1.4K
  • 21 Dec 2021
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